Gao Yuexing turned her head to glance at her father. Not daring to touch it casually, she leaned in and sniffed.
It was fragrant?
Gao Yuexing’s eyes widened. She sniffed again carefully and confirmed—it was fragrant.
It was the powder girls used to apply to their bodies, finely ground and mixed with a faint jasmine scent.
Gao Jing walked up behind her, glanced down briefly, and also noticed it. However, he remained calm and silently pushed the window open a little wider. As a result, the shoe print was fully exposed in the sunlight, gleaming like golden scales and exceptionally conspicuous.
It wasn’t just body powder. There must have been something else mixed in.
No young lady would tolerate walking outside after applying powder, shining brightly all over like a walking koi fish.
Gao Yuexing scrutinized the shoe print closely and came to a conclusion—it belonged to a woman.
Light and delicate. Clearly, it was from a slender woman.
What kind of woman would climb through a window?
Gao Jing turned and walked toward the inner room, leaving the shoe print exposed on the windowsill as if to ignore it. Gao Yuexing remained silent and followed with her head lowered.
As they passed the folding screen, she noticed a shattered porcelain bowl on the floor and blood splattered across the white screen fabric. After a few days, the blood had dried and darkened.
The outer area was chaotic, but once they stepped into the inner chamber, it was unexpectedly tidy.
The powder boxes and jewelry cases on the dressing table were still half-open. Warm-colored gauze draped from the canopy bed behind the moon gate. Just looking at this place, one could still imagine Miss Chen’s serene demeanor as she gently fanned herself in her boudoir.
She was so young. What was she thinking in her final moments when she was killed with a single stab? Was she at peace?
A faint clicking sound pulled Gao Yuexing out of her thoughts.
It was Gao Jing closing the jewelry case on the dressing table.
Gao Jing asked, “See anything?”
Afraid of exposing her identity, Gao Yuexing deliberately lowered her voice and whispered, “This student doesn’t know.”
Seeing that no one else had followed them inside, Gao Jing asked, “Would your belongings usually be scattered about like this?”
Gao Yuexing glanced at the mess on the dressing table. She usually didn’t personally organize such items, but the maids in her household, without needing her instructions, would naturally tidy up for her.
Would the legitimate daughter of Minister Chen not have maids or attendants to take care of her belongings?
Truly unusual.
Gao Jing pulled open the wardrobe by the wall, and several dresses tumbled out.
Miss Chen’s clothes were almost all rolled up together and stuffed into the wardrobe. Gao Yuexing narrowed her eyes, connecting the disarray in the room to the shoe print on the window.
Someone had searched through Miss Chen’s room, but what were they looking for?
Gao Jing surveyed the room briefly and said to Gao Yuexing, “Let’s go.”
As they left, Gao Jing didn’t order anyone to reseal the room. The doors and windows were left open, and even the wardrobe remained ajar. Once outside, Gao Jing said to Madam Chen, who was waiting at the door, “You may now sort through Miss Chen’s belongings. My condolences.”
After walking some distance, Gao Yuexing glanced back and saw Madam Chen and her second daughter rushing inside, one after the other, almost impatiently.
That was a place where someone had died.
Were they truly thinking of the deceased’s belongings, or were they after something else?
The journey back to the Gao residence was silent.
After washing her face and changing out of coarse clothing, Gao Yuexing went to the study, where she found Li Fuxiang already present.
The door to Gao Jing’s study was tightly shut, and the servants had been sent to the outer courtyard.
Gao Yuexing called, “Father.”
Gao Jing responded with a simple “Mm,” and said, “Speak. What did you find?”
Gao Yuexing began, “I’m curious about that shoe print. What was mixed in it to make it so remarkable?”
Gao Jing smiled approvingly and said, “Rainflower stone, ground into powder, mixed with fragrant powder, and added with some lead powder. In dim light, it’s hard to notice.”
Gao Yuexing was surprised. “You did this?”
Gao Jing said, “I didn’t just take over this case recently. On the night Miss Chen was murdered, before dawn, the Jinyiwei came to deliver an imperial decree.”
The Jinyiwei were known for their mysterious operations.
So, if they didn’t want anyone to know, then no one would.
The emperor had been involved from the beginning, which meant the Ministry of Justice had no authority over the case. They were merely pawns on the surface, going through the motions under the emperor’s orders.
Gao Jing retrieved a small box from his sleeve, opened it, and revealed a grayish powder. He poured a little onto the dark table surface and rubbed it—there was almost no visible difference.
Only under sunlight did it become noticeable.
Gao Jing said, “Before the Ministry of Justice sealed the room, I requested Commander Xi’s assistance in secretly scattering this powder in several corners of Miss Chen’s room. This means that after the room was sealed, someone in the Chen family defied the emperor’s decree and secretly entered Miss Chen’s room through the window.”
Gao Yuexing said, “That person was looking for something.”
As they spoke, one of Gao Jing’s trusted subordinates came to report, presenting a map.
Gao Yuexing leaned in to look.
It was a detailed map of the Chen residence, with a few places marked in ink.
The subordinate reported, “Sir, as per your instructions, I carefully investigated all parts of the Chen family’s back residence. The places marked here are where footprints were found.”
Gao Yuexing was stunned as she listened.
Gao Jing looked at her with interest. “What insight do you have?”
Gao Yuexing answered, “It’s all about speed. The traps must be set before the other party acts. At the same time, you must predict their next move.”
Gao Jing gazed at her and said, “The filth within inner residences far exceeds your imagination. The human heart is hard to fathom and can unknowingly cost you your life. The Chen family case isn’t difficult or dangerous. But when you come of age, marry, and manage your husband’s household…” At this, Gao Jing glanced at Li Fuxiang, who was quietly standing to the side, seemingly with a deeper meaning. “Perhaps the troubles you encounter will be far more perilous than this. Will you be able to handle them with ease?”
Gao Yuexing understood her father’s implication—she had always understood.
Li Fuxiang’s status destined him to be surrounded by nothing but danger.
Gao Yuexing, having decided not to let go of this bond, had to steel herself mentally.
She had once thought that Li Fuxiang, imprisoned in the Xiaonan Pavilion, was utterly pitiful, as if no worse fate could befall anyone in the world.
But she had no idea.
Perhaps the Xiaonan Pavilion was merely the beginning, a prelude indicating that his life would never be smooth.
Leaving the Xiaonan Pavilion was when the true filth and schemes began.
He had to struggle, resist, and endure in the endless mire of corruption until the day he died.
To die would indeed be the ultimate relief. But none of them wanted to die easily; they all wanted to live—truly live.
Li Fuxiang’s gaze was calm. When he spoke, his clear and pure voice gave Gao Yuexing an illusory sense of clarity, as if piercing through the fog. He said, “Ah Xing, I will protect you.”
Gao Yuexing turned her head to look at him. The confusion on her face gradually faded, and her empty eyes were filled with his shadow. She smiled and said, “Don’t be afraid, Your Highness. I will protect you too.”
He had stayed in darkness for so long that upon finally seeing sunlight, the filth hiding in the shadows behind him still clung to him like a curse, eager to drag him back into the dark and tear him apart.
At this moment, Gao Yuexing finally began to seriously ponder a question: Had he been well all these years?
She shook her head and murmured, “I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have let go back then. I shouldn’t have left you alone in the capital.”
Li Fuxiang leaned closer to her, and the two sat side by side. With a hint of sorrow, he said, “But you couldn’t take me away. No one could take me away.”
The day the emperor brought him out of the Xiaonan Pavilion, he had already been planted in a flowerpot called the imperial palace. Every ray of sunlight and drop of rain he received came from the emperor.
He grew under the emperor’s shadow. Whether he wanted to or not, he could not sever the blood tie that was thicker than water.
They were all birds in cages, gazing at each other through the bars.
They dared not hope for a day when they could soar freely in the heavens.
At most, they could only wish to one day live in the same cage.
—
Gao Jing arranged some case files on the desk in a conspicuous spot and said expressionlessly, “I’m handing this case over to you. All the clues are recorded here. Once you’ve discussed it and reached a conclusion, come see me.”
Taking advantage of the quiet evening when fewer people were around, Gao Jing had Li Fuxiang escorted back to the side room. Gao Yuexing, holding the thick case files, followed along. Once inside, she slammed the files onto the small table and muttered under her breath, “Father is grooming me to be some sort of lady detective.”
Li Fuxiang began organizing the files into neat rolls and said, “Your father emphasized repeatedly that this case isn’t difficult. Does he already have a conclusion?”
Gao Yuexing lifted the teapot on the table, only to find it empty. Frustrated, she pushed it aside and said, “It’s too early to say for sure. My guess is he has a theory and is just waiting for evidence to confirm it.”
Li Fuxiang replied, “Wait? Will evidence come to him on its own?”
Gao Yuexing said, “Isn’t there a trap? Invite the guest into the urn.”
The map of the Chen residence had been tightly held in Gao Yuexing’s hands. She carefully spread it out on the table, studying the marked locations.
“Look here,” she said.
Li Fuxiang glanced at it and said, “It wasn’t a servant.”
The footprints were concentrated almost entirely around the main hall of the back courtyard.
Gao Yuexing added, “If it wasn’t a servant, then it was one of the masters?”
The faces of Madam Chen and the second Miss Chen flashed repeatedly in her mind. Gao Yuexing hesitated and asked, “Do you think a mother would harm her own child?”
Li Fuxiang didn’t answer her immediately. Instead, he placed the empty teapot outside the window, then whistled softly. Before long, someone outside came to take the teapot away, and shortly after, returned it filled with hot tea.
Li Fuxiang poured a cup of tea and placed it by Gao Yuexing’s hand, asking, “What do you think—how could a father remain indifferent to his daughter’s death?”
Gao Yuexing stared at him for a long time.
Yes, Chen Jingchen had earned his position as Vice Minister of Personnel through his own abilities. To climb the ranks so steadily, he could hardly be considered ignorant. By now, with all the chaos surrounding the case, he should have realized that the issue lay within the inner quarters of his household.
But why had he made no moves to address it?
Even more puzzling, he had obstructed the investigation several times, to the point of appearing to shield someone.
Was he protecting the murderer?